December 31, 2016

"Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!"

Tweeted Trump, after Putin declined to retaliate after Obama kicked some Russian spies/diplomats out of America.
For effect, Mr. Trump “pinned” the post to the top of his Twitter feed, ensuring that it will remain the first message seen on his page. In a rapid demonstration of digital glasnost, within minutes the Russian Embassy in Washington had retweeted it....

And, like the Obama White House, many [in the GOP establishment] see Mr. Putin’s gesture — including inviting the children of American diplomats to enjoy the Christmas trees at the Kremlin — as a ploy....

In recent days, [Trump] has told associates he sees little upside to what he considers needless fights with Russia, and he has long said he sees potential in maintaining a working relationship with Mr. Putin. Mr. Trump has often said there are benefits to cooperating with Russia in fighting the Islamic State in Syria....

38 comments:

tds said...

The usual question is what will Russia demand for being nice and cooperative? Estonia?

exhelodrvr1 said...

Well, we see how well the "reset" button worked. It's reasonable to give this approach a try.

AllenS said...

Why is it that Hillary wanted better relations with Russia, and used a stupid stunt involving the "re-set button". When Romney talked about Russia not being our friend, Obama said. “You said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years." Not to forget Obama saying: "On all these issues, but particularly missile defence, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space." Medvedev replies: "Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you …" Obama retorts: "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." In other words, don't listen to what I'm telling the American public, I don't mean it.

Now, along comes Trump, who seems to want to have better relations with Russia, and the Democratic party, and the Democratic party media, and their stooges are all upset. How unfortunate that everyone can't see this charade for what it is.

PB said...

Hilarious that the Obama White House would accuse someone of a "ploy". This group has been honest about very little in its 8 years and you could say almost every lie was a "ploy" to fool people.

tim maguire said...

We must insist that the presidency be respected, even if the president himself is not respectable.

rhhardin said...

Obama will be gone and an adult will replace him. You don't have to be smart to see that.

MayBee said...

In recent days, [Trump] has told associates he sees little upside to what he considers needless fights with Russia

Completely agree.
We don't need to agree with Russia or even condone what they do. We should even see them as a foe. But the election-year red-scare mongering and Obama's childish taunting (when Obama is really so so weak) has been ridiculous and ineffective.

dreams said...

Russia was our ally in the second world war and a pretty good one given that for every US soldier killed in actual combat about ninety one Russia soldiers were killed in combat.

rehajm said...

When throwing a tantrum the worst outcome for the thrower is to be ignored.

Hagar said...

Of course it is ploy.
Putin delivered a masterful "tat" for Obama's "tit" in essentially saying, "This is childish, and we are not going to play that game."
And then he invited the U.S. Embassy children to a Kremlin New Years'.
Well played!

hombre said...

NYT: "But moving too far, or too fast, in Moscow’s direction creates enormous risks for Mr. Trump. From Capitol Hill to Europe, people are already worried that Mr. Trump will simply do Mr. Putin’s bidding."

Is it even possible that anyone with any sense of Donald Trump shares this "worry?"

The fatuous NYT and the grandstanding, aging John McCain, a marriage made in Fantasyland.

AllenS said...

hombre, it is the start of a meme being passed around by the Democrats and the MSM, that Trump and Putin are best friends, and that Trump will do whatever Putin says. Watched a little tv for the past couple of days, and this meme has become the Dem's and the MSM's talking point. They will not quit saying this.

Bruce Hayden said...

Maybe it shouldn't be, but the reality here is that what we have here is a pretty innocuous three way confrontation//discussion. Obama isn't going after Russia and Putin because they actually did anything wrong, but, rather, because his party, the Democrats, lost the election, and pointing at an external enemy makes them feel better about the loss. Of course, none of the hacking really had an effect on the election, and we really don't know whether the Russian govt. was behind it or not, or just that tools written by Russian hackers were used. That isn't relevant to Obama and the Dems. They are just using the Russians as a convenient bogeyman and excuse. And, even if it were true (though it likely isn't), it would be irrelevant - we hack them, and they hack us on a regular basis.

Both Putin and Trump recognize exactly what Obama is doing here. A lot of hot air, and some almost meaningless sanctions, for pretty bogus claim on the part of Obama. Nothing more. Trump says that it is irrelevant to our relations with Russia. He is right. And Putin can't resist tweaking Obama, and invites the kids to the Kremlin.

The absurdity is that the MSM, ever the loyal foot soldiers for the Dem party, takes this whole thing seriously, trying to get everyone all hot and bothered by what has been characterized as a "big nothingburger". They are being played by Obama and his resident fabulists, and, in turn, are trying to play the American public. But, for the most part, it just isn't working.

khesanh0802 said...

Here's my comment from the WSJ: "For all the anxiety and fear that the WSJ generated about Trump he seems to be handling this situation pretty well. He has let Obama's own people talk about what a weak, stupid move Obama has made while Trump essentially says "let's be calm, we can deal with all this as adults as soon as the children have left the room". I stand by it.

chuck said...

What if they gave a war and nobody came?

Paco Wové said...

Taken in its totality, Obama admin. policy re: Russia could be a textbook of how not to do great-power diplomacy.

Big Mike said...

Does anyone think Trump doesn't see the "ploy"?

But it's also a big one-finger salute to a lame duck president, and I think Trump appreciates that more.

Dave said...

In 2014 when the entire WH network was shut down for weeks due to suspected "hacking" by the Russians Obama didn't even allow his press team to answer questions about it nor did he do anything about it. What's different now?

Gahrie said...

Sounds like to me that Trump is attempting to do what Obama attempted to do eight years ago....reset the relationship between Russia and the United States. The unforgivable difference to the Left is, Trump actually seems to be succeeding.

traditionalguy said...

The World Government is not needed unless there is a war semi going that needs to be stopped. That is the UN's only Raison d'être for which FDR created it...keeping Communist Russia in line.

Trump's peace with acapitalist ally in Russia, ruins 70 years of plans at BildabergerWorld. as has Nigel Farage's talent,to a lesser degree.

Soros and Rockefeller want a War. When do they want it. NOW, before it's too late to start one.

Charlie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quayle said...

Being from New York City (and I say this to my work colleagues when necessary) - being from New York City, when anyone says anything nice about me, I always grab my wallet and hold on to it.

Trump's statement isn't love or friendship. Trump is merely signaling that we can wait for the children to leave (as was said above) and is throwing sunshine to soften up the opposition. Sure, Putin may be too smart to drink this one in (but as dictators love praise, it may even go in slightly even with Putin's smarts) - but he surely Putin got the signal that the new guy is on the same level as he in "the dance."

These are two PR prizefighters sizing each other up. I'm sure there is some healthy respect. We'll see how the PR fight goes.

Bruce Hayden said...

Think about it for a minute. The only "hacking" that went on during the election was the release of Dem party emails (very likely originated by a DNC insider, probably a disgruntled Bernie supporter), along with those of Crooked Hillary chair Podesta (as a result of being phished). No voting machines hacked. Nothing except the release of embarrassing emails that showed that the DNC and the Crooked Hillary campaign were coordinating with the MSM, and that they had made sure that Bernie lost the primary to her. That was the big Nothingburger I mentioned above. The release of accurate, actual, emails that embarrass the Democrats. And, as a result, it is front page news that Obama is sanctioning the Russians for something that they may have had nothing to do with, having failed to do so when they had actually done stuff to harm us. It is completely the narrative, and, as usual, almost completely fact free.

narciso said...

it's variously dubiously sourced reporting, that one is acting against, here's one examination of the data,

http://www.robertmlee.org/critiques-of-the-dhsfbis-grizzly-steppe-report/

the report is a good defensive tool.

narciso said...

the other link I referred to:

https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2016/12/russia-malware-ip-hack/

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

"My father taught me many things here... in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Leora said...

I would kind of like an A/B comparison between the conditions for civilians over the last year in Aleppo vs those in Mosul which has not yet been retaken from ISIS. This would include collateral damage from the attacks as well as atrocities committed by the defenders.

Howard said...

I'm sure the alt-right doesn't know it, but Trump is reviving Russian policy to that of FDR's friendly and accommodating post-war Soviet policy given the fact that USSR defeated the Nazi's and they earned respect. This was immediately halted when Truman and the hawks reneged which precipitated the iron curtain and cold war.

After the dissolution of USSR, the west has expanded NATO to the point that Putin has started acting like a cornered rat because he is completely surrounded and over-matched. Trump extending the olive branch to Putin is a return to liberal progressive foreign policy. My guess, Trump wants to make Russia great again to reduce the threat level and, in a 60-degree shift of Nixon's trilateral diplomacy, use the power of better Russian relations as a foil and hedge against Chinese militarism and industrial theft.

Trump is a progressive Manchurian candidate who knows he can reverse himself anywhere and everywhere and his core deplorable support with never waver.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Taken in its totality, Obama admin. policy re: Russia could be a textbook of how not to do great-power diplomacy."

The Obama admin. is far too stupid to even understand that Russia is a great power and that, if you wish to be respected by her, you need to treat her as one. Hillary's grotesquely condescending "reset" button made it clear that Obama hadn't a fucking clue.

Trump won't be intimidated by Russia but he won't be grabbing her pussy, either.

Zach said...

Ironically, getting into needless and personal fights as a response to personal humiliations is one of the things I worried Trump would do, and had some faith that No-Drama Obama would avoid.

Looking back though, was there ever a No Drama Obama? It seems like there have been a lot of long standing grudges the last eight years -- Obama vs Congress, Obama vs Israel -- and a lot of policies that have doggedly been pushed despite little success -- Obamacare, the Iran Deal, the Russian Reset, the pivot to Asia... What if it was really All Drama Obama?

Dude1394 said...

"NYT: "But moving too far, or too fast, in Moscow’s direction creates enormous risks for Mr. Trump. From Capitol Hill to Europe, people are already worried that Mr. Trump will simply do Mr. Putin’s bidding."
"

"People", what "people" are you talking about of consequence. You mean your jornolist bubble? Get real and get lost.

Dude1394 said...

Obama has basically screwed up every SINGLE foreign policy position possible. I honestly can not think of a single one that has been a success, not one.

I mean we are in 5 shooting wars right now.

Comanche Voter said...

Putin plays Obama for a chump---again. Why does Obama always play the Washington General's role to Putin's Harlem Globetrotters? Putin swats this off like a pesky fly at a summer picnic. The Russian Embassy in the UK sends out a duck image on a tweet with a big red LAME over the duck. Leaks from the Kremlin talk about the "shallow brains" in the Obama White House. I mean they have done every thing but put a dunce cap on Obama and tell him to go sit in a corner until class is out (or until Trump is inaugurated).

The sad thing is that this particular wound was self inflicted--but that's also true of many other gaffes by our Light Worker (that's two words, not one, and is descriptive of his habits). Other than that he's a peach of a fellow. Just ask him.

Seeing Red said...

If only Patton was allowed to take Moscow.

Seeing Red said...

This stuff coming from Walter Duranty's home is priceless!

Clyde said...

Of course it was a ploy, but it was a smart one. Putin won the PR battle against Obama by appearing to take the high road and by saying implicitly that everyone will be done with Obama in another three weeks. After that, Obama becomes the two vast and trunkless legs of stone in the middle of the desert, with his sneering visage lying next to them in the sand. Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair!

Gary Rosen said...

I'm no Putin fan but his response to Obama was an epic troll and Trump shrewdly tagged along. "The smartest guy in the room" is too stupid to realize his lame-duck grandstanding only makes clearer what a weak sister he has been.