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Bannon Loses National Security Council Role in Trump Shakeup (bloomberg.com)

Top presidential strategist Steve Bannon has been booted from the National Security Council amid a reshuffling of the key panel, Bloomberg reports Wednesday morning. President Donald Trump reorganized the council, removing Bannon and downgrading the role of his homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, the report added, citing multiple sources. From the report: Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, was elevated to the National Security Council's principals committee at the beginning of Trump's presidency. The move drew criticism from some members of Congress and Washington's foreign policy establishment. A White House official said that Bannon was placed on the committee in part to monitor Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and never attended a meeting. He's no longer needed with McMaster in charge of the council, the official said. Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13 for not disclosing to the president or to Vice President Mike Pence the extent of his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, before Trump's inauguration.

203 of 396 comments (clear)

  1. How much private citizen data has he already by Burz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    siphoned off? That's the question we should be asking, along with why someone like him would be allowed anywhere near a national security post.

  2. Re:This is relevant, how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why is this on Slashdot?

    Because national security policy drives information security policy. (See, for example, the thread about DHS scaling up invasive border procedures, most of the victims of whom will be innocent Americans.)

  3. Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by wjcofkc · · Score: 1, Interesting

    burning down. Trump's wall is burning down, and he lit the fire.

    Seriously though, he is already alienated from half the population of the United States. The people he put in position around himself profoundly represent the half that likes him, which is why he put them there. The path he is taking will leave him completely alone even across the populace. He will have nothing but his paranoia to keep him company. The idea of that makes me nervous.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    1. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      GOP may end up hating T more than the Dems.

      It would be ironic of GOP tries to impeach him out of office, but Dems actually prevent or delay it so that T can finish demolishing GOP and their reputation.

      Pence could probably get more of GOP's (traditional) agenda passed than T, which the Dems obviously don't want. T is proving to be an ineffective blabber-mouth (which was predictable in my opinion).

      Buckle up for Mr. Toad's wild orange ride...

    2. Re: Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      I am unconcerned about how much Trump is loved by Russia.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    3. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by DickBreath · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sir, I think you mean ineffective Twitter-mouth.

      I predict there will be an avalanche.

      Trump's approval rating drops by the day. He has accomplished nothing of significance. He has deliberately made many enemies. He has filled the swamp with banksters and oil executives. Alienates allies. White house staff fighting each other. Ethics violations. Failed travel ban, twice. Failed health care destruction, twice. Voices in his own party are disagreeing with him. Trump-Russia collusion investigation.

      The avalanche. Once his base realizes that they won't get what they wanted, they will flee in droves.

      Trump's low approval is starting to reflect on the Republican party's approval. This may come back to bite. Bigly.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    4. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      obviously it is not working

      The standard of living in the USA is certainly stagnant, and arguably slowly backsliding, but it's not "broken". We are STILL at or near the top of the heap in terms of national power and wealth. Venezuela is a real example of "broken" (because they put all their eggs in the oil basket).

      The "break it to start over" suggestion risks losing everything in a bid to try to improve what mostly works. It reminds me of sports teams who come just shy of a championship, and revamp their roster to try to get better next for season, but instead ruin their original chemistry and slide way down in rankings. A lot of teams make that mistake: it fails far more often than it works.

    5. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by butchersong · · Score: 2

      His approval rating is actually up about 10% this week.

    6. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Venezuela is a real example of "broken" (because they put all their eggs in the oil basket).

      No, they put all their eggs in the socialism basket.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    7. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by k6mfw · · Score: 1

      if you think that the US is a terrible country and that 50 years ago when we were putting people on the moon

      Bad analogy. US was a different country back then, and had a Republican president signing document that created the EPA.

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
    8. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      if you think that mexican drug gangs and people flooding across the border to steal jobs from Americans is a good thing

      What jobs are drug gangs trying to steal from Americans? Drug dealer jobs?

    9. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      BS. Plenty of socialistic and semi-socialist nations never had that problem. Adam Smith's "comparative advantage" can also result in single-basket syndrome.

    10. Re: Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      If you are so stupid that you believe the bullshit rhetoric coming out of the mouth of a man who has lied constantly in very provable fashion and whom only a moron could not figure out that he in is this for ONLY himself, you MIGHT like Trump, but even then it's a crap shoot.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    11. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by dryeo · · Score: 1

      They put all their eggs in the corrupt basket. Pretty common in countries with a lot of poor, promises of socialism by the corrupt to win support and then the corrupt are in power and siphon off all the wealth.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    12. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Venezuela is a real example of "broken" (because they put all their eggs in the oil basket).

      No, they put all their eggs in the socialism basket.

      No, they put all their eggs in a single-commodity economy. Any region which invests in one particular sector will finds its fortunes rising and falling with that sector, as any investor already knows. Venezuela has gotten crushed by the low low worldwide price of oil.

    13. Re: Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      I'm from Canada. You get better care in the US but not everyone can afford it.

      Yes, if you pay top dollar (or can convince someone else to pay top dollar for you), the US's medical care is top tier. That's why your overall standard of medical care can suck even if everyone wants to get treated here.

    14. Re:Trump's wall is burning down, burning down... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      When they were part of the Ottoman Empire prior to WWI they were all fine and dandy. Afterwards when we, with our almighty white American/Brittish intellect, decided to arbitrarily split up the Middle East into whatever the fuck countries we felt like with no regards to... well anything... THAT is what ruined the Middle East.

      They could, you know, maybe end the Shia/Sunni infighting that has persisted since Muhammad died. But well, of course it's whitey's fault that the Shias and Sunnis want to kill each other all the time.

  4. Re: Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Stuff that matters, read a few more bytes into the tagline.

  5. Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 1, Interesting

    But how come no story on Susan Rice having unmasked multiple people in the Trump camp. It should be noted that she stated "she didn't do it, and had no knowledge of it." And of course that was proven untrue. And now we're seeing the claims making the rounds of "It wasn't political" but why wasn't the FBI involved then? Why did she do something that was outside of the preview of her job(advise the President and consume intelligence summaries)? Why does this appear to have been a case of her setting a new precedent(the unmasking). Why were they unmasked by her, when all 3 letter agencies could do this on their own if they're conducting an investigation.

    And of course, why are so many of the media silent on this. When they were all over other major events similar to this and licking their chops like a dog seeing a steak. Well you can all have fun now.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
    1. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by dmiller1984 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      But how come no story on Susan Rice having unmasked multiple people in the Trump camp. It should be noted that she stated "she didn't do it, and had no knowledge of it." And of course that was proven untrue. And now we're seeing the claims making the rounds of "It wasn't political" but why wasn't the FBI involved then? Why did she do something that was outside of the preview of her job(advise the President and consume intelligence summaries)? Why does this appear to have been a case of her setting a new precedent(the unmasking). Why were they unmasked by her, when all 3 letter agencies could do this on their own if they're conducting an investigation.

      And of course, why are so many of the media silent on this. When they were all over other major events similar to this and licking their chops like a dog seeing a steak. Well you can all have fun now.

      Name a media outlet that was silent on the Susan Rice story. I'll wait...

      Unmasking is rare in her job, but not unprecedented. She most likely didn't know that she was unmasking Trump associates until she actually asked for them to be unmasked. Unmasking isn't something she can do without asking permission from the relevant intelligence agency.

    2. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The whole "Susan Rice story" is largely a concoction, an attempt at distraction from the fact that there is growing evidence of significant ties between Trump and Putin. It's almost like a Nixon supporter saying "Clearly Deep Throat broke the law, so Nixon should get off!"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 2, Informative

      Name a media outlet that was silent on the Susan Rice story. I'll wait...

      CNN? MSNBC? They also have pulled a CNN.

      ... Unmasking isn't something she can do without asking permission from the relevant intelligence agency.

      Then I'm sure you can answer how she was able to unmask without the permission of those agencies then, since the order appears to have come directly from her. Or the fact that she ordered detailed spreadsheets on specific people in the Trump camp. This of course is also while she claimed she didn't do it. I'm going to note that DC isn't the only site that has made this claim either, so has the WSJ and Bloomberg.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well you can feel whatever way you want about it, but considering you have multiple agencies stating that there was no evidence or said evidence was circumstantial at best. I'm sure that's working out great for you. I'm guessing you'll be right there in supporting republicans and their demands that she come for an under-oath interview right? That should clean it all up very quickly. It's not like they'd have to subpena her or anything, like several investigative committees did to the current head of the DEA because of bureaucratic stonewalling.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    5. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Holi · · Score: 1

      Because it's not a story. Per Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden: "Absolutely lawful. Even somewhat routine.”

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    6. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by grasshoppa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The released emails from the Clinton campaign illustrated behavior that many voters can objectionable, and the only response I've ever heard was to accuse the alleged hackers who stole the data and released it.

      ie: shoot the messenger.

      Amusingly, your Nixon example is actually more relevant when applied to the whole Clinton email thing.

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    7. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I just searched CNN.com for "susan rice" and there is -zero- mention of the accusations against her in the first page of the search results. If I click over to the "Stories" tab, the first result is her denying any spying allegations involving the Brits. I'd love to have a non-conservative opinion on this, and their silence speaks volumes.

      Fake news is news that is not true, not news you don't like.

    8. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, this is like saying "Deep Throat gave us clues about Nixon, and thus he should be impeached". Rice clearly broke the lie, lied about it, and has implicated most of the previous Administration in breaking privacy laws. But I guess that doesn't matter to you because Trump.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    9. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You want to try that again? I'm sure her word for it, is just as true as when she claimed Benghazi was because of a youtube video. And it came out via wikileaks that this was a deliberate obfuscation of the event.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    10. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by quantaman · · Score: 3, Informative

      But how come no story on Susan Rice having unmasked multiple people in the Trump camp.

      Because /. doesn't cover every non-story put out by the Trump camp.

      It should be noted that she stated "she didn't do it, and had no knowledge of it." And of course that was proven untrue.

      Citation? My hunch is the usage of this quote doesn't match the context.

      And now we're seeing the claims making the rounds of "It wasn't political" but why wasn't the FBI involved then?

      Because the US has multiple intelligence agencies.

      Why did she do something that was outside of the preview of her job(advise the President and consume intelligence summaries)? Why does this appear to have been a case of her setting a new precedent(the unmasking).

      That's not only within the realm of her job, it's a great example of actually doing your job.

      People affiliated with an incoming administration are having clandestine meetings with agents for foreign powers who helped decide the election? Some unmasking is warranted.

      Why were they unmasked by her, when all 3 letter agencies could do this on their own if they're conducting an investigation.

      For the same reason the NSA decided to approve her request, because the unmasking was warranted.

      And of course, why are so many of the media silent on this. When they were all over other major events similar to this and licking their chops like a dog seeing a steak. Well you can all have fun now.

      Because they recognize it's just another attempt by Trump and his defenders to distract from his completely made-up claims that he was wire-tapped. And to distract from the many, many, unsettling ties from his camp to Russia.

      Seriously, you think this was political shenanigans? Then why didn't it come out during the election? Tons of these links were being investigated during the election but it was only the media who actually uncovered anything. The closest thing we saw to a leak from the government was Democratic Legislators complaining that there were incriminating things not being released. Meanwhile, we heard non-stop about the investigation into Clinton and her emails, including leaks. One of the reasons Comey apparently announced the temporary re-opening of the investigation just before the election is that he didn't think he could stop his office from leaking!

      If the investigations into Trump were politically motivated you would have heard about them in October.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    11. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Indeed, underlying all of this is the fact that the Obama Administration and the three letter agencies were doing their job. If Trump and his proxies didn't want to be outed playing footsie with the Russians, then, well, they shouldn't have been playing footsie with the Russians. This all comes down to the fact that Trump's minions, like Flynn, are not only of dubious loyalty to US interests, but are astonishingly stupid people. Who in their right mind would think that you could communicate with the fucking Russian fucking ambassador and not have someone in the US intelligence community not know about it? For fuck's sake, the Russian ambassador has probably been constantly and consistently spied on since the Second World War.

      The stupidity of Trump's team, the arrogance coupled with ignorance, is just profound. It's stunning to think that such a group could ever achieve such high office, and the fact that Nixon was likely felled by someone in a three letter agency ought to have been a pretty goddamned good education. But one gets the impression that this band of thieves are almost proudly ignorant of how things work, and truly seemed to believe themselves to be untouchable.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    12. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm just going to leave this right here. Then when you get to the parts where your arguments fall apart you can let me know.

      If the investigations into Trump were politically motivated you would have heard about them in October.

      Funny thing, we found out about them about a month ago. And it was started right after Trump became the nominee. It *almost* seems like the previous president was hoping someone else was going to win, and they could simply sweep this egregious abuse of power under the rug.

      Kinda strange isn't it? How come you didn't hear about previous administrations doing this...

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    13. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      True. There is no proof, but we all know for damn sure that it is true.

      I normally don't respond to AC's. But the irony, I can taste it through the internet.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    14. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That's not ignoring the story, that's educating its readers as to why it is not a story. Which it's not, no laws broken, nothing really out of the ordinary even. It, the right that is trying to misstate the facts and make it a story. It is literally FAKE NEWS.

      Oh, that's the story now. But a few weeks ago, it was "We dint do nuttin!" And now it's "B-b-b-but it was legal!" Rice lied then. Wanna bet she's lying now?

      And it's so nice of you in your blind fucking partisanship to admit that the Obama administration using the national security bureaucracy to spy on political opponents is "nothing really out of the ordinary even". Really?!?! Well, you said it.

    15. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The segments are on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/result...

    16. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by bongey · · Score: 1, Interesting

      No Russia is distraction for Democrats to shift blame on how badly they lost the election.Prompted up by the Obama administration that politicized government agencies to hide the disaster know as Hillary Clinton. Too much CNN rots your brain. Imagine "Dick Cheney unmasked incoming Obama administration's transition team" , you liberals would be screaming bloody murder.

      First, there is NO solid evidence of any connection to Russia to Trump , that wasn't from a Obama political appointee.The entire Russian/Trump report was created by Obama appointees, not career intelligence officers. There wasn't 17 intellgience agencies that said Russia interfered in the election, there was one man named James Clapper created a report that said Russia interfered. Basically only 1 group , the NSA had any input and one person be James Clapper, the one who lied to congress, that Russia interfered with the election.

    17. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Holi · · Score: 1

      Making shit up does not make it true.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    18. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Holi · · Score: 1

      Anonymous trolls sheesh. Try researching the story instead of being spoon fed propaganda.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    19. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I think one should concern oneself with both. The chief issue with any leak is whether the leak is actually necessary. In an ideal world, Congressional oversight would mean that no one would need to publicly leak alleged or potential misdeeds by public officials or high-ranking individuals. But would Nixon have effectively been pushed from office (yes, he resigned before his almost inevitable removal) if Mark Felt hadn't leaked Nixon's misdeeds to Bob Woodward?

      In other words, apart from any legal restrictions on leaking information (leaks, more often than not, are illegal), there is the moral imperative for those that know that unlawful acts or abuses of power are going on to let someone know. Ideally, as I say, the way to do it that would be via Congressional oversight, but the issue then becomes "What will the politicians do with it?" Unlike Watergate, where the Democrats controlled Congress (though they didn't have the numbers to guarantee an impeachment and conviction), the politics plays the other way; in other words there was no loyalty to the Administration at play, whereas in this case, it is a Republican Administration under the microscope and a Republican-dominated Congress that by and large is looking into the microscope, and while there probably isn't quite the sense of unity there might have been under a traditional presidency, I can't imagine many Republican Representatives or Senators are thrilled at the prospect that they may end up having to impeach one of their own, even if Trump's true allegiances and ideology are pretty murky.

      As to Rice, despite the bluster, I haven't seen anyone demonstrate that she in fact broke any rules. The attacks on Rice are simply bluster meant to obfuscate the true question, which is "Why were so many of Trump's advisers and proxies in such frequent contact with the Russians, even as the Russians were allegedly fucking over the Clinton campaign."

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    20. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Really? Did Rice actually break any laws? It strikes me that her conduct is part of her job, no?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    21. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Clinton didn't lose the election that badly. She won in the popular vote, and Trump hardly won the electoral college by some sort of a landslide. If anything, the closeness of the race demonstrates that Trump is anything but the consensus winner.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    22. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by radarskiy · · Score: 2

      "The released emails from the Clinton campaign illustrated behavior that many voters can objectionable, and the only response I've ever heard was to accuse the alleged hackers who stole the data and released it."

      What the emails did NOT illustrate was whether the Republican campaign was doing any better. While the release the emails gave us data, it did not give us information relevant to the choice between Republican and Democrat yet it was claimed to do so.

      You are mistaking curators for messengers.

    23. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      Oh please. From your own link:

      "White House lawyers last month learned that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter."

      Do you even understand what a "raw intelligence dump" is? It's a raw dump of intelligence traffic without names attached to it. The traffic was suspicious, *which is why* the identities of the persons involved was requested to be unmasked. She didn't go "hey gimme all the Trump traffic plz thks!"

    24. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Informative

      Zero? Under "Everything", it's the first 3 links. Under "Stories", it's the first 4 links.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    25. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      There was no bugging of Trump Tower, and Trump's proxies got caught up because they're such arrogant buffoons that somehow it didn't enter the tiny brains that communications with Russian officials are ALWAYS monitored.

      The rest of your rant is just a demonstration of your stupidity. The perfect Trump voter; a combination of bluster and low IQ.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    26. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

      That's because nothing in the hacked Hillary emails depicted illegal behavior but the process to obtain and leak them was illegal. The situation is opposite for Trump.

    27. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1, Informative

      18 USC 798 and 50 USC 1809. Yes. The same laws that the Democrats were so worked up when Dick Armitage leaked Valerie Plame. Leaking classified information - something the Obama/Clinton crime syndicates love to do - appears to be a standard modus operandi for the Democrats.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    28. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      the fact that there is growing evidence of significant ties between Trump and Putin

      The rest of your post is on point, but this part.......there isn't much evidence of "significant ties." The whole thing looks like another attempt at a red scare.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    29. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by DogDude · · Score: 1

      The press has stopped reporting every single lie that the Orange Piece of Shit utters. There'd literally be no room for any more news. An accusation from the Liar-in-Chief means absolutely nothing.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    30. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by scatbomb · · Score: 1

      "growing evidence of significat ties between Trump and Putin" Excuse me, what evidence? Name anything. The only connections between US and Russia that I've seen are Clintons selling off 20% of our uranium production and Podesta, who broke federal laws with undisclosed stock dealings involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Face it, it's seeming more and more like Trump-Russia ties were manufactured to distract from all the unlawful things the Democrats were doing. They thought they'd win though, so it would be OK. They lost and are worried, hence pushing the Russia story.

    31. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Maybe Trump's proxies shouldn't have been secretively communicating with the Russians. There's a lot of noise about the likes of Flynn being outed, but strangely little outrage about what they were doing, at least from Republicans.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    32. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by phantomfive · · Score: 1, Insightful

      But how come no story on Susan Rice having unmasked multiple people in the Trump camp

      Probably because no one cares about that.

      Seriously, we have possible sarin gas attacks in Syria, problems in N Korea, and we're talking about Susan Rice who is gone and no longer has power, and really didn't do that much bad to begin with. Time to move on.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    33. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by quantaman · · Score: 1

      I'm just going to leave this right here. Then when you get to the parts where your arguments fall apart you can let me know.

      So she seemed to falsely deny Nunes' claim that individuals were unmasked (though Nunes' claim wasn't restated specifically so it hard to know exactly what she denied), she immediately after went into detail how incidental collection of intelligence was legal, so I think a listener would come away with the proper conclusion that transition officials had gotten caught up in the observation of foreign agents.

      If the investigations into Trump were politically motivated you would have heard about them in October.

      Funny thing, we found out about them about a month ago. And it was started right after Trump became the nominee. It *almost* seems like the previous president was hoping someone else was going to win, and they could simply sweep this egregious abuse of power under the rug.

      Kinda strange isn't it? How come you didn't hear about previous administrations doing this...

      Started doing what? Spying on foreign diplomats? Welcome to the 19th century.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    34. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by moeinvt · · Score: 2

      "nothing in the hacked Hillary emails depicted illegal behavior"

      It is illegal for a political campaign to coordinate strategy with a PAC. The Hillary e-mails certainly seem to depict a blatant disregard for this law.

      https://theintercept.com/2016/...

    35. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by bongey · · Score: 1

      Last time I check this was tech site, guess it is left wing sjw bash Trump site?

    36. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by j-turkey · · Score: 1

      What evidence exists suggesting that Susan Rice leaked classified information in this case? Before you answer, please remember there is no equivalence between unmasking and leaking.

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      -Turkey

    37. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by JoeyRox · · Score: 1

      Every campaign violates the PAC "chinese" wall - you don't need hacked emails to see this.

    38. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by ScentCone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's a lot of noise about the likes of Flynn being outed, but strangely little outrage about what they were doing, at least from Republicans.

      There isn't much talk about "what they were doing" because there wasn't much going on at all and that takes all the fun out of the story for the Democrats. There's a reason that even Obama's DNI said that despite having access to everything, he say no evidence of anything out of bounds. There's no there there. All the hype is just the ongoing Democrat theater designed to find some way, any way, to distract from their horrible choice of candidate and idiotic conduct during the election. And the fact that under Obama they lost nearly a thousand legislative seats, most of the governoships, both houses of congress, and now the White House and the Supreme Court. The whole ZOMG RUSSIANS! meme is getting downright hilarious. Meanwhile we have every indication that people in actual power at the time of the election and leading up to it were using intelligence resources for political research.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    39. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      How did the information get outside the immediate control of Ms. Rice? Did it choose to get out on its own? Who leaked it?

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    40. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Even Nixon had his die-hard supporters at the end. Some people are just so emotionally invested they simply refuse to let go.

      I dunno, maybe Trump will last four years. A lot of it depends on whether Republicans begin to feel that their fortunes and the fortunes of their policies are on the line. The failure to replace Obamacare, and now the growing popularity of Obamacare, are a bellwether of a dysfunctional party who seems prepared to throw away its Congressional majority. Now that isn't necessarily Trump's fault per se, but he is the one that went around bragging endlessly about how he's this big wheeler dealer and he'll get things done through his negotiating superpowers, and yet, when push came to shove, he just let the AHCA float away and his proxies just pointed at Paul Ryan and the Freedom Caucus and started shouting about how they're at fault.

      Thus far the only thing we have been able to determine about the Trump Administration is that it will never accept any blame, it will find scapegoats, it will Tweet about them endlessly, it will have hissy fits and temper tantrums and kick up a big cloud of smoke. To imagine this guy negotiating a new NAFTA deal, or any deal, beggars belief. With each day he seems to act more like a lame duck, with little political capital, dwindling support even in his own party, and no actual policies beyond sloganeering. His cabinet seems pretty dysfunctional as well, Tillerson has apparently gone largely mute, other than some baffling talk on North Korea, and it's Jared Kushner who now suddenly seems to be the functioning Secretary of State.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    41. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      What is the accusation? That the Russians were trying to rig the election by revealing how the Hillary camp was trying to rig the election?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    42. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      She lost to Donald friggin' Trump. You can't really lose much worse than that.

      It's like your college team getting beat by the team from the "Middle School for the Blind Amputees."

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    43. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by j-turkey · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, maybe there is something that I'm not understanding here, but I do not believe that you answered my question.

      You don't explicitly say this, but I am going to make an assumption from context that you are trying to lead me to what you believe is an obvious conclusion that Rice is the only possible person with access to this information and therefore must have been the source of the leak. If this is your logic and the only evidence that you are providing, it's easily falsifiable since more than one person (Susan Rice) knew that she requested that the names be unmasked, and more than one person had access to the intelligence report (e.g. members of the intelligence agency/agencies briefing her). Certainly, it's possible that she leaked classified information, but it's just as possible that anyone else with access to this information leaked classified information. I apologize in advance if I'm putting words mouth here, I'm just trying to find meaning in your response. Did I read this wrong?

      If I'm reading this right, what actual evidence exists suggesting that Susan Rice leaked classified information in this case (again, remembering that there is no equivalence between unmasking and leaking)?

      --

      -Turkey

    44. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      So somehow there is no news, but it's fake anyway? I believe you also said it was the first story under the stories tab but somehow doesn't exist? Do you really think people can't see through that? ((I mean the intelligent ones, not the ones who modded you up)

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    45. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      They were not fruit of the poisonous tree. It's great that you heard that phrase on "Law & Order" but that doesn't mean you understand it.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    46. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      BEcause there's nothing worse than a reasonably competent executive.

      Sorry, but history is going to put Obama and Trump in considerably different categories.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    47. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why is Flynn angling for immunity?

    48. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by quantaman · · Score: 2

      Oh for fuck's sake - Your lord and master Obama already said in November that there was no Russian influence on the campaign.

      No Russian interference on the vote itself, ie, they didn't hack into any of the electronic voting machines.

      Everybody but Trump acknowledges that Russia influenced the campaign.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    49. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by bongey · · Score: 1

      No from formers National Security Advisors, it is not normal for the NS Advisor to request unmasking nor is it routine for other agencies. Just none-sense spin from the left journalist .It's the FBI's job to preform counter-intelligence, it wasn't Susan Rice's job. She wasn't even preforming counter-intelligence, she was spying for political reasons.

    50. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Personally I often don't bother responding to AC's due to not knowing if they'll ever see my response. If I respond to Mashiki, he'll probably respond back or at least see my response. An AC, who knows whether they return to their comments to see if there are any responses.
      There's also the problem of differentiating AC's, am I having a conversation with one or a bunch.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    51. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 1

      Zero? Under "Everything", it's the first 3 links. Under "Stories", it's the first 4 links.

      There are two possibilities here.
      1. I'm lying.
      2. New search results were added to the index after I posted this.

      I assert that the latter is true. When I posted this an hour prior to your comment there were no mentions of it.

    52. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Noble713 · · Score: 1

      Why were so many of Trump's advisers and proxies in such frequent contact with the Russians

      Heaven forbid that the incoming administration of the world's #2 nuclear power attempt to patch up its relationship with the world's #1 nuclear power, and do so as quickly as possible, via back-channels if necessary, to avoid or de-escalate the tensions stoked under the Obama/Clinton duo....

    53. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      And in our state, the governor proposed the use of a neutral, independent commission to set congressional districts ... and the liberals in the Democrat-controlled legislature shut it down in order to preserve their heavily gerrymandered control of the state. Because Democrats.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    54. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Ah, liberals.

      Let's see ... who cheated? The DNC and the Clinton campaign. As proudly demonstrated in their own emails. As (despite lying about it repeatedly as they usually do), finally admitted to when it comes to things like slipping the Clinton campaign debate information from CNN ahead of time in collusion with their favorite network. What "cheating" are you referring to, exactly? You must have evidence that no law enforcement agency does - you should tell them!

      And, Clinton's impeachment? No, he wasn't impeached for lying about a blow job. He was impeached for lying while his career-long habit of sexual harassment of government employees (and that's putting it mildly) was under the microscope. You'll recall he was also found in contempt by a federal judge, and disbarred.

      As for your implication that Susan Rice, personally, is the analyst who would be pouring over communication intercepts and making decisions about when to unmask US citizens in the way of investigating conversations (almost all of which had exactly ZERO to do with Russia - she was was digging for political angles on the Trump team for months, making requests for names of US citizens at a rate far in excess of any of her predecessors and without any connection to even a hint of any illegality). Keep trying to excuse it away, but you know you're misrepresenting the situation. Which is why your're doing it as a coward.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    55. Re: Well that's all interesting and good... by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Why is Flynn angling for immunity?

      Because he's not stupid? If you were getting caught up in the most hysterical witch-hunt since the satanic day care scare in the 80's, you'd want immunity too.

    56. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      What the emails did NOT illustrate was whether the Republican campaign was doing any better.

      Non sequitur.

      You are mistaking curators for messengers.

      Or maybe you're prioritizing "balance" over facts.

    57. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Don't herniate a disk moving those goalposts, going from "she didn't do anything illegal" to "everyone was engaging in the same illegal action". And those are just the DNC emails - if she were Hillary Johnson, she'd be facing a few decades in prison for her private server at State, just for the obstruction of justice charges for wiping evidence.

    58. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      You posted on April 5, 2017. Some of the articles on the CNN site date to April 4, 2017. Are you willing to retract your statement about "fake news"?

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    59. Re:Well that's all interesting and good... by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      There are two possibilities here.
      1. I'm lying.
      2. New search results were added to the index after I posted this.

      3. You're a fucking idiot.

  6. Kushner by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Bannon lasted longer than I thought he would. For a time it almost seemed like he might be able to outmaneuver the Kushners, but having Ivanka installed in the White House and having Jared running around as an official messenger and errand boy demonstrates that in the end, the only people Trump will ever really trust is his family.

    And that's fine by me. Whatever I think of Trump, I actually think the Kushners are half-way reasonable people, and it's a lot better having them whispering in his ear than that vile racist troll Bannon.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    1. Re:Kushner by vux984 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think your right, its ultimately a positive thing to see Bannon removed.

      However, the fact that Trump only trusts his family is a huge problem. It might "work" in a private family company; but it is fundamentally at odds with how government should be.

      IMO There should be laws in place to prevent such nepotism -- because the bond of family is a counter force to transparency and integrity with respect to their obligation to represent the public interest etc.

      Hell, many corporations for example have policies prohibiting too much nepotism -- preventing direct reports from being family members, etc. Because it's well documented that loyalty and favortism within the family bond frequently is at odds with their obligations corporate interests.

      Trump running the whitehouse like a family business... will ultimately only serves trum; not the public interest.

    2. Re:Kushner by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I agree with you in general, and certainly there are rules that prevent the Kushners from being paid. But in this case, as I say, I see the Kushners as representing the only people in Trump's inner circle who aren't either Bond-esque villains or just out-and-out incompetent, and seeing as this is a man who seems to be very easily swayed, I'd rather have Ivanka doing the swaying than someone like Bannon. Hopefully Bannon's next stop is right out of the White House. I suspect that the underlying motive for this is that someone has convinced Trump that his troubles thus far are Bannon's fault, and certainly Bannon's stock has gone down with the failures of the two anti-refugee executive orders.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Kushner by Baron_Yam · · Score: 3, Insightful

      American voters have wanted a King and a ruling dynasty for the longest time.

      There's a worship of political families, and just having the right name increases your odds dramatically of getting votes for election to the same position held by someone of a previous generation of your family. It's not just increased access to connections and vertical knowledge transmission, people want the bloodline. And that's external... within the system, those bloodlines have similar supportive effects.

      I'm pretty sure it's basic primate psychology at work. We just really, really want to be ruled by a divinely selected bloodine no matter how stupid that idea has repeatedly been shown to be.

    4. Re:Kushner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Simpsons nail it again:

      Sideshow Bob: "Because you need me, Springfield. Your guilty conscience may move you to vote Democratic, but deep down you long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king. That's why I did this, to save you from yourselves. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a city to run."

      capcha: stamped

    5. Re:Kushner by DogDude · · Score: 1

      I actually think the Kushners are half-way reasonable people

      "In the summer of 2004, Kushner was fined $508,900 by the Federal Election Commission for contributing to political campaigns in the names of his partnerships when he lacked authorization to do so.[8] In 2005, following an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey,[9] U.S. Attorney Chris Christie negotiated a plea agreement with Kushner, under which Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 counts of making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering.[10] The witness-tampering charge arose from Kushner's act of retaliation against William Schulder, husband of his sister Esther, who was cooperating with federal investigators; Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged for an encounter between the two to be secretly recorded, and had the tape sent to his sister.[11][12][13][14] Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison[11] and served 14 months at Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery in Alabama[15][16] before being sent to a halfway house in Newark, New Jersey to complete his sentence.[15][16][17] He was released from prison on August 25, 2006.[18] As a result of his convictions, Kushner was disbarred from the practice of law in New Jersey,[19] New York,[20] and Pennsylvania.[21]"

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    6. Re:Kushner by skids · · Score: 1

      Progress I guess. I wonder if anything about Bannon/Bossert trickled out of the investigations and this is a premptive walkback of their "importance" so they can call them "just a volunteer" like Manifort (sounds ridiculous I know, but don't think they aren't audaciously mendacious enough to try). I'm just bummed Bossert isn't the smarmy brit-accent guy who gets interveiews on NPR all the time. He makes me want to punch the dash.

      Also Jared looks like he lost too much weight on that subway diet... oh wait... wrong Jared.

    7. Re:Kushner by Raenex · · Score: 1

      vile racist troll Bannon

      And I'm sure you have evidence that he's racist besides the term being thrown around like popcorn in a movie theater riot.

    8. Re:Kushner by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

      I actually think the Kushners are half-way reasonable people "In the summer of 2004, Kushner was fined $508,900 by the Federal Election Commission for contributing to political campaigns in the names of his partnerships when he lacked authorization to do so.[8] In 2005, following an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey,[9] U.S. Attorney Chris Christie negotiated a plea agreement with Kushner, under which Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 counts of making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering.[10] The witness-tampering charge arose from Kushner's act of retaliation against William Schulder, husband of his sister Esther, who was cooperating with federal investigators; Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged for an encounter between the two to be secretly recorded, and had the tape sent to his sister.[11][12][13][14] Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison[11] and served 14 months at Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery in Alabama[15][16] before being sent to a halfway house in Newark, New Jersey to complete his sentence.[15][16][17] He was released from prison on August 25, 2006.[18] As a result of his convictions, Kushner was disbarred from the practice of law in New Jersey,[19] New York,[20] and Pennsylvania.[21]"

      He said "half-reasonable", which is not the same as "guiltless" or "honest". You can deal with a corrupt person. You cannot do the same with a dangerously dogmatic person, specially one whose dogma is of the racist kind.

      This is not an endorsement for the Kushners (fuck them.) This is an acknowledgement that we are truly in "pick your poison" territory. And we simply cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this shit will go away (for that's exactly how we are where we are now, as a nation.)

  7. No big deal. by MMC+Monster · · Score: 1

    Nothing to see here. Move along. ...

    Can I interest you in chemical warfare in Syria? If so, remember, only we know who launched the chemical weapons. Everyone else has it wrong. Everyone!

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  8. Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bannon appointed himself to the NSC by having Trump signed off on an executive order that he didn't read and didn't find out about until it got mentioned in the media. Your tax dollars at work.

    On a related note, Trump had played twice as much golf in two months than Obama did in eight years.

    1. Re:Remember kids... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We're seeing the end result of the Kushner's formal installation in the White House. There were some indications early on that Bannon might actually have outfoxed the Kushners, and indeed there were even suggestions Trump wasn't all that happy with his son-in-law. But now that Ivanka is formally in the White House, there simply isn't any room for Bannon. Bannon was useful because his Alt-right credentials gave Trump access to a fairly useful demographic, but people like that are very dangerous to keep by your side too long.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Remember kids... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2, Informative

      On a related note, Trump had played twice as much golf in two months than Obama did in eight years.

      Alternate facts? Obama played 333 rounds of golf in 8 years. Assuming 5 hours per round, that would be 70 days non-stop, 24/7 golfing. I don't think President Trump has golfed that much, yet...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't think President Trump has golfed that much, yet...

      I found a different article (see below) that described the situation more precisely. Obama golfed every nine days in eight years. Trump golfed every five days for the first two months. Trump's golfing is twice the rate of Obama's golfing.

      http://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-trump-playing-golf-is-just-another-day-at-the-office-2017-03-31

    4. Re:Remember kids... by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      If you take five hours to play a round of golf, you must really suck. Either that or you've got one leg and no cart.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    5. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      OK. So when you state something, and are proven to be wrong, rather than admitting your error you come back with a "what I meant to say was..."

      I stand corrected. Thank you.

    6. Re:Remember kids... by i_ate_god · · Score: 1

      death from heart disease is theoretical?

      --
      I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
    7. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Either that or you've got one leg and no cart.

      Or a bruised ego to sooth.

    8. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Or you have a staff of Secret Service officers attempting to secure your safety.

      At $1M to $3M per round. If Trump plays a game every five days for a year, the estimated cost (~$120M) will exceed the cost for eight years of Obama's golf games (~$90M).

    9. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter - he got his fake news posted and up modded. All he cared about.

      It's not fake news and I don't care about being modded.

    10. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Trump has played more than 306 rounds in two months? So 5 rounds a day, that is a lot of gold alright.

      As I pointed to someone else, the original article I read wasn't precise. Trump plays golf at twice the rate as Obama (every five days vs. every nine days). If Trump plays every five days for a year, the cost of security (~$120M) will exceed the cost of security for eight years of Obama's golf games (~$90M).

    11. Re:Remember kids... by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget rental fees for all those carts. They ALWAYS ride carts, which cut playing time for an average round by about 30%...and they hold lots of guns and beer.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    12. Re:Remember kids... by gravewax · · Score: 1

      The world may actually be a lot better off if trump spends even MORE time on the golf course and less time in the oval office.

    13. Re:Remember kids... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      For a foursome, 4 to 5 hours is pretty standard. Add 20 minutes either side for final tally of score, getting bags on carts, etc. and you're pushing 5 hours pretty consistently. At least at the courses around where I live (Ventura County, CA) it's typical for a foursome to take closer to 5 hours to complete a round.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    14. Re:Remember kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      It's also more difficult to wiretap a golf course.

      Are you kidding?!

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_microphone

    15. Re:Remember kids... by Noble713 · · Score: 1

      On a related note, Trump had played twice as much golf in two months than Obama did in eight years.

      Citation needed. This reference suggests otherwise: ( https://freepresspolitics.com/... )
      Trump *IS* on track to out-golf Obama, but only if he maintains his current rate of golf trips.

  9. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hillary Clinton was barely tolerated by half of the Democrat voters. That's why Hillary lost. Trump was a barely tolerated candidate among Republicans, but not quite weak enough to be defeated by Hillary Clinton. For example, take a look at her first-amendment positions and you'll see someone who is way to the right of center. When you have a choice between a Republican running as a Democrat and a Libertarian running as a Republican, is it any surprise that the latter wins?

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  10. Re: This is relevant, how? by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, it's a big conspiracy to take away your rights and complete the liberal agenda of switching this county into a communist utopia where bookist academic types rule over small businessmen and blue collar workers.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  11. Why is /dot reporting that story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    It used to be a site for the tech and science news

  12. The Cooker by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How much private citizen data has he already

    Not as much as Susan Rice.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:The Cooker by denzacar · · Score: 4, Informative

      Got any water left in that mud of yours?

      President Trump's wild charge that Susan Rice committed a crime, explained

      What we're seeing now, in short, is not a legitimate debate about the threat posed to civil liberties by improper unmasking.
      We are seeing a toxic combination of Trump's penchant for wild speculation, a right-wing media echo chamber, and the legacy of the Benghazi controversy coming together to produce an absurd pile-on - one that seems to have brought the Republican Party together around their remaining hatred for Rice and the Obama administration.

      What the article fails to mention though, is that all this water-muddying is taking place at the same time as Trump's "foreign policy adviser" Carter Page admitted, publicly, that he was "unmasked" by the FBI - as being recruited by the Russian spies.
      Russian Spies Tried to Recruit Carter Page Before He Advised Trump

      Two years before joining the Trump campaign as a foreign policy adviser, New York business consultant Carter Page was targeted for recruitment as an intelligence source by Russian spies promising favors for business opportunities in Russia, according to a sealed FBI complaint.

      Page confirmed to ABC News that he is the individual identified as "Male-1" in a 2015 court document submitted in a case involving the Russian spies.

      Unmasking people recruited by foreign spies is BAD, mkay? Just trust in Trump and look the other way.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    2. Re:The Cooker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      you forget that there are only a few "approved" sources of information for some folks - fox, brietbart and infowars. the rest is obviously fake news in their not-so-humble-opinion.

    3. Re:The Cooker by bongey · · Score: 1

      Except most of the dozens of unmaksing requests were done from Nov-Jan 2017 , so not 2 years ago. Also it is the FBI's job to find out, not a political appointee unmasking for political reasons.

  13. Did I miss the Susan Rice scandal story here on /. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Political stories as long as they're fit the narrative eh?

  14. Re: This is relevant, how? by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Civil War already established how that works.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  15. Re:This is relevant, how? by Salgak1 · · Score: 2

    . . .which is not information security policy, it's bureaucrats getting their jollies and over-promoted mall cops living out their Dirty Harry fantasies.

    All the REAL infosec policy comes out of NIST in Gaithersburg, not DHS on Nebraska Avenue. . .

  16. Re:STAY ON TOPIC by quantaman · · Score: 2

    What does this have to do with computers?

    If Trump lasts 8 years civilization will collapse and self-driving cars will need to be work in Mad Max settings.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  17. Re: Huh? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

    How so? Maybe you could take the time to explain it.

    Trump will be getting the same advice from the same people, but one of those people will now have a slightly different title. How is that not important?

  18. He is still on NSC by bongey · · Score: 1

    Steve Bannon is still on the NSC, he's just not a principal member. He is still allowed to go to all the meetings he wants to. He was only able to make one meeting meeting he was a principal member. Thus no real change.

    1. Re:He is still on NSC by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Steve Bannon is still on the NSC, he's just not a principal member.

      No. According to the Federal Register, he is no longer a member of the NSC. And yes, that means he won't be attending meetings. NSC meetings are not open mic night.

      And the Trump administration has confirmed Bannon's removal from the NSC.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:He is still on NSC by bongey · · Score: 1

      "Wednesday’s change means Mr. Bannon is no longer part of the NSC. He is still permitted to attend meetings but won’t automatically be invited to each one."
      "Bannon is still permitted to go to NSC meetings."
      Try again http://online.wsj.com/public/r...
      Also he only attended ONE meeting before, so this really doesn't do anything.

    3. Re:He is still on NSC by bongey · · Score: 1

      Confirm removal as a NSC principal member. IE not REQUIRED to go to meetings AND he can STILL go to NSC meetings.

    4. Re:He is still on NSC by Straif · · Score: 1

      The Bannon thing has been a red herring since day one. Obama (as did other Presidents before him) routinely sent political operatives to NSC meetings, he just didn't list them as full members so they wouldn't show up on the public lists. This has been pretty standard practice.

      Trump, on the other hand, decided to list Bannon as an official member so his name appeared on public documents. He has now removed Bannon from the official members list so he can still go to the meetings whenever he wants but won't appear on public listings; at least not the ones most people see.

      The end result is absolutely nothing changed.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    5. Re:He is still on NSC by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Judging from the stories coming out of the White House and the numerous stories on Breitbart bashing Jared Kushner, it definitely looks like there's more to it than that. .

      The end result is absolutely nothing changed.

      That's pretty much the story of the Trump presidency so far.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  19. Re: Huh? by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Generally having a role removed from your list of duties is seen as a demotion, and the timing of this, after Ivanka's official installation in the White House, is highly suggestive that the rumored power struggle between Bannon and the Kushners has resolved itself in the Kushners' favor. Also note that there have been rumors that Bannon and Priebus weren't getting along all that well either. I don't expect Bannon to work for that much longer at the White House.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  20. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by danbert8 · · Score: 2

    Hillary was so bad of a candidate that she could only be competitive against an idiot like Donald Trump. Trump was so bad of a candidate that he could only be competitive against a corrupt career politician like Hillary Clinton.

    The people are so bought into the cycle of voting for the lesser evil that even with historically polarizing, horrible, and unliked candidates, 3rd parties still barely got 2.5% of the vote...

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  21. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hillary Clinton was barely tolerated by half of the Democrat voters. That's why Hillary lost. Trump was a barely tolerated candidate among Republicans, but not quite weak enough to be defeated by Hillary Clinton. For example, take a look at her first-amendment positions and you'll see someone who is way to the right of center.

    I'm not sure how you're defining the left/right divide, but at this time in history pro-first-amendment is very much a right-wing position and very much not a left-wing position. The left is doing more against free speech every year right now than the right has done in all of history.

    When you have a choice between a Republican running as a Democrat and a Libertarian running as a Republican, is it any surprise that the latter wins?

    Uh, are you calling Trump a Libertarian?

    LOL.

    That ringing sound you keep hearing? It's the cluephone. Might want to answer it.

  22. Re: This is relevant, how? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    The US has carried a constant debt since the US Civil War. Debt is literally what makes the world go round.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  23. Re: This is relevant, how? by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Joke's on you. I'm a registered Republican. (used to be Libertarian but switched when Ron Paul was in the primaries)

    As for SJWs, treating people fairly is not really garbage, and has nothing to do with maxism. Most people who are upset by SJWs are upset because they've been called out on their bullshit. That most SJWs are women and are mostly targeting men has a lot to do with the vitriol that is spewed about SJWs. A lot of guys are just too old fashioned to want to here criticism from a woman. I don't care what gender someone is, as long as the criticism is valid and constructive. Usual response to SJWs is: I don't like what you're saying, so I'll mock you to take that power away from you. But that funny thing is you can't win that way (well at least *I* find it funny)

    Democrats like Obama and both Clintons are very right leaning. They are no Howard Dean, Ralph Nader or Bernie Sanders. Not that a 1 dimensional scale for measuring political views is a good metric, it lacks nuance. For example, I'm a Republican and believe in small decentralized government and in supporting small business owners, but I'm against the death penalty. Does that make me a liberal? Probably not.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  24. Re: Huh? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    Indeed. Suggestive conjecture about rumors about internal squabbling over relationships is exactly what Slashdot should focus on, because there is nowhere else on the Internet that provides that information.

  25. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure how you're defining the left/right divide, but at this time in history pro-first-amendment is very much a right-wing position and very much not a left-wing position.

    Absolutely, unless you're a woman, or black, or gay, or a Muslim, or pretty much any race/sex/characteristic other than a straight white male.

  26. Re: This is relevant, how? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Funny

    The US has carried a constant debt since the US Civil War. Debt is literally what makes the world go round.

    If by "literally" you mean "figuratively,"

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  27. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Uh, are you calling Trump a Libertarian?

    LOL.

    He's apparently a corporatocrat, which makes him just as much of a libertarian as most of the people who call themselves libertarian. Don't like it? Separate yourself from that label to escape the association with all the crypto-corporatocrats hiding among you. Sometimes a label is too tainted and has to be discarded.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  28. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by bobbied · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hillary was a Republican running as a democrat? Huh? Not even close.

    Hillary was *all* democrat, lock stock and barrel.. She just hit the general election knowing that radical leftist doesn't win elections so she tried to run as far right as her liberal democratic base would allow w/o howling about it.

    You remember the discussions about abortion and the Heller ruling at the last debate? She had no choice but to shore up her base and took the radical liberal leftist positions on these issues at that point because she knew they were not going to show up and vote if she didn't. She's most decidedly a democrat, running as a democrat, unless you think she's just a liar who was going with what she thought was the prevailing winds...

    Now if you want to argue Trump was a democrat running as a republican you might have more of a case. He wasn't bound by traditional republican views on social issues, at least during the campaign (and one would argue isn't even now). However, I think he's really what he appeared to be and marketed himself as, which turns out to be a non-politically correct position which is derived from what he thinks is common sense. It's this "common sense" thing that got him elected in the face of the Access Hollywood tapes, being out spent and being the underdog the whole time.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  29. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Huffington Post said he was a NAZI and that's good enough for me. I don't want NAZIs in the US government and neither should you. And no, I won't bother to research where this information came from, because NAZI.

    Have a nice day.

  30. Re: This is relevant, how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    As for SJWs, treating people fairly is not really garbage, and has nothing to do with maxism.

    Fairness is equal opportunity and equality before the law, not special treatment based on assumptions of oppression, in turn based on attributes they say don't matter anyway (eg race, sex etc). Most of these SJWs are professional victims who have destroyed the credibility of those who actually have had their rights abused with the use of bad statistics, fear mongering, and fallacious shaming language.

    A lot of guys are just too old fashioned to want to here criticism from a woman.

    Typical SJW hypocrisy. You demonize such generalizations from men while targeting them with the same kinds of generalizations. Take your 'oppression=power+privilege' neo-marxist garbage elsewhere.

    Usual response to SJWs is: I don't like what you're saying, so I'll mock you to take that power away from you. But that funny thing is you can't win that way (well at least *I* find it funny)

    Mocking someone does not take power of truth away from them. SJWs are mocked because they do not speak the truth except when it benefits their self-interests.

    Democrats like Obama and both Clintons are very right leaning. They are no Howard Dean, Ralph Nader or Bernie Sanders.

    Hillary may be to the right these guys, but she sure isn't for equality of any sort, except maybe the oppressive 'equal outcome' of societies run on marxism that happen to put people like her on top of the pile.

    Joke's on you. I'm a registered Republican. (used to be Libertarian but switched when Ron Paul was in the primaries)

    So you're one of those fake 'progressive libertarians.' This is what happened to the term 'liberal.' You're just more of the same really. If you were truly for small government you would not buy into the idea of class warfare that today's social justice requires as a basis. Regardless of what you claim to be, such ideas most definitely have a basis in marxism (eg: "we have nothing to lose but our chains").

  31. Re: This is relevant, how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I don't care what gender someone is, as long as the criticism is valid and constructive.

    People get sick of "SJW criticisms" because they aren't valid, constructive, or solicited. Attempting to engage with them in dispassionate, rational discussion is a waste of effort because before you've finished your first sentence, they fall back to name-calling. So, for the sake of expediency, people simply respond to "SJW criticisms" with "oh, shut up".

  32. Re:When Dick Cheney spied on Obama it was OK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They sold uranium to Russia. The current Russia investigation should be extended to look into bank account transfers during that timeframe. Including that of the Clinton Foundation, of course..

  33. Re: This is relevant, how? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

    his post described you so well....

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  34. Re: This is relevant, how? by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Informative

    So you're one of those fake 'progressive libertarians.' This is what happened to the term 'liberal.' You're just more of the same really. If you were truly for small government you would not buy into the idea of class warfare that today's social justice requires as a basis. Regardless of what you claim to be, such ideas most definitely have a basis in marxism (eg: "we have nothing to lose but our chains").

    I found today's "No True Scotsman" comment.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  35. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by phantomfive · · Score: 2

    I can't think of any definition of "Libertarian" that matches Trump. What are you thinking there?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  36. Re: Huh? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Does this matter? Seems debatable to me.

    It does matter, but not in a nerdly way.

  37. Re:This is relevant, how? by painandgreed · · Score: 1

    Why is this on Slashdot?

    Because it gets lots of posts, even if many are just people complaining about it being on Slashdot. Same for everything Apple does, inequality of various people in the workforce, stuff on millennials, etc. If you want to see less of a topic, just don't even bother opening the discussion.

  38. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    I disagree with your assessment of why T won. T was basically a roll-the-dice choice. Hillary was more or less a known quantity: mostly competent but bland. T presented a chance of being a true reformer but also a chance of being a dud.

    It was the pioneering spirit in Americans that made them gamble at the polls. Voters have Captain Orange taking the USA Enterprise into a Strange New Frontier, full well knowing we might find paradise, Borg, and/or be infested with orange tribbles that double as toupees.

    T is a casino salesman by trade: he knows how to hype the fun of gambling and exploration, plunging the ship into a dark uncharted nebula.

    Let's just hope we don't hear, "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not an apocalypse reverser!"

  39. Re: This is relevant, how? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    "Joke's on you. I'm a registered Republican. (used to be Libertarian but switched when Ron Paul was in the primaries)"

    Don't feel bad. I was the other Johnson voter.

  40. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by painandgreed · · Score: 1

    Hillary was a Republican running as a democrat? Huh? Not even close.

    Well, perhaps if social issues are your wedge issues, that's pretty true for Hillary, her husband, and even Obama. however, from the Democrat/left side, if looking at national security, privacy rights, economy, foreign policy, etc. They all appear as Republicans. The main complaint about Obama by those that voted for him was that it was pretty much a continuation of Bush on such policies. He may have gotten through some form of universal healthcare, but pretty much folded on FISA, business, Middle East, etc.

  41. they're shifting narrative, using the race card by scatbomb · · Score: 1

    The MSM is now saying that the Rice story is "sexist and racist." So didn't take long to pull those cards. It's like the Democrats think they can do anything if it's blamed on somebody who's female and/or a minority.

  42. Re: This is relevant, how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    The US has carried a constant debt since the US Civil War. Debt is literally what makes the world go round.

    If by "literally" you mean "figuratively,"

    Or by "go round", OP means "function adequately in an economic way".

  43. Close, but not quite. by scatbomb · · Score: 1

    More like a plan to spy on everyone they oppose, make diversity akin to victim status so they can get away with anything, and create a electoral majority that's dependent on government handouts so that they can control the future of the country.

    1. Re:Close, but not quite. by dryeo · · Score: 1

      You do have to admit that it is working pretty well for the Republicans and especially for Trump.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  44. Re: This is relevant, how? by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    Tune in next week -- same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  45. Re: This is relevant, how? by sexconker · · Score: 1

    What? Looking at those networks (and yes, including Fox News as the other AC suggested) seems to CONFIRM the conspiracy.

    Saying something is a conspiracy isn't saying it's bullshit. It's saying it's a clandestine plot. Whether or not it's true doesn't affect whether it should be called a conspiracy or not.

  46. Re: This is relevant, how? by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Considering that the conservation of angular momentum is more of a *balance* of attraction, it is quite literally the opposite.

  47. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by MountainLogic · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately we ended up with an even more self-serving and worst tempered version of Harry Mudd , but, yes, he is indeed wearing a tribble on his head.

  48. Re: This is relevant, how? by sexconker · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nononono. Debt is good! Greece is fine!

  49. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I can't think of any definition of "Libertarian" that matches Trump. What are you thinking there?

    He's the "I have more money and therefore I'm right" sort. A lot of people who call themselves libertarian fall into that category, whether their self-applied label is deserved or not.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  50. Re: Spoiler effect by bondsbw · · Score: 1

    I try to remember that getting rid of the spoiler effect is merely a gateway to the goal of better choice. You are correct that it is key to getting there and that everything else comes after, but once it goes away we have to remain diligent to educate the electorate. Otherwise we could see the spoiler effect become a lingering superstition that is as effective as reality.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  51. Re: This is relevant, how? by sexconker · · Score: 1

    There are dozens of us!

  52. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by sexconker · · Score: 1

    Hillary didn't lose though. She won the popular vote.

    It was the non-democratic electoral college who ignored the popular vote and voted in Trump.

    the only loser here is America's "Democracy"

    She didn't win the popular vote. She did get a plurality of it, but that doesn't equate to winning. Especially since the President isn't elected by popular vote.
    The electors rightfully ignored the popular vote and voted faithfully. Faithless electors flipping the result of the election would have been ruinous.
    I'm glad you put democracy in quotes, because America is not a direct democracy and never has been. If you don't like it, change the Constitution.

  53. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    I don't think Trump is anything. He doesn't really have any political stances beyond what he thinks the current crowd of people around him want to hear, and when it doubt he just says what is in his brain at the time. The closest label would probably be "contrarian". He's only Republican because that's the party he hung his coat on, but he doesn't subscribe to the existing party platform. He takes some very non-libertarian views, especially if those views will get him votes.

  54. Re: This is relevant, how? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

    I liked the analogy I think I saw on Slashdot a while ago: A person in a wheelchair complains that they can't get into building X. An activist lobby to have a wheelchair ramp built. An SJW will lobby to have the stairs removed as offensive to differentially-abled persons.

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  55. Re: Hillary will not be running for office by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

    Clinton got more votes than Trump. It's the states, not the people who elected Trump, and there's no "pioneering spirit" nonsense that really explains that given states are institutions, not people.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  56. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by ScentCone · · Score: 1

    The people are so bought into the cycle of voting for the lesser evil that even with historically polarizing, horrible, and unliked candidates, 3rd parties still barely got 2.5% of the vote...

    Well, it didn't help that the third party candidates were even worse. And not just by a little.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  57. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    ok, I'll watch more carefully and see if people who call themselves libertarian match that label.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  58. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by ScentCone · · Score: 2

    I can't think of any definition of "Libertarian" that matches Trump. What are you thinking there?

    His instincts lean towards scrapping onerous, pointless regulations. Towards government more in its constitutionally described role, rather than as Nanny. He's no classical libertarian, of course. But on many topics he skews more that direction than most of his primary race counterparts, and certainly wildly more so than his Democrat opponent.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  59. Re: This is relevant, how? by amorsen · · Score: 2

    Debt is fine, if you can print money in the denomination of the debt.

    If you can't, be careful. And that holds whether you are a nation state, a company, or a person.

    --
    Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
  60. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    His instincts lean towards scrapping onerous, pointless regulations.

    Honestly: who favors imposing onerous, pointless regulations?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  61. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    Most people pushing for bigger government programs. That skews towards democrats, but there are plenty of republicans with the same magical thinking. They just don't consider them pointless or onerous. They, having never run a business, can't envision the compliance cost, and believe that they will make the world a utopia (ignoring that most people will search for a way around them).

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  62. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    One person's "pointless" is another person's "point"

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  63. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    There is only one problem with your argument, and it it's this: Hillary actually DID win the election, so claiming she was too "whatever" to do so flies in the face of reality.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  64. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    So you have no idea what the popular vote is then ... Got it. (Only an idiot would say she didn't win it, when she clearly did.)

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  65. Re: This is relevant, how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I hope you are being sarcastic, but in case you aren't:

    Greece's debt and the US debt have nothing in common.

    Greece is/was tied to the Euro. When they ran into economic trouble, they couldn't sell bonds at a lower rate and devalue their own currency as any nation with its own currency can do, they were forced to do whatever the Euro Central bankers told them to do, and they were screwed. This is why they floated the idea of leaving the euro, which frankly had its upsides for them. Spain was in similar circumstances, and they are sucking it up and dealing with the austerity that has been forced upon them.

    The US and any other nation with its own currency can sell bonds and go into debt to get out of recessions, much like the US did in 2009 after the economic collapse. Its worked out quite well for the US, the overall debt has been lowered, and the US fared better economically than any other western nation from that global collapse. As much as things are not awesome for everyone in the US, things are much better than they could have been had we gone the austerity route (look at Greece and Spain, they show why this is a terrible idea in a recession).

  66. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    I think it's more like "I pretend I have more money on the internet therefore I'm right".

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  67. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by painandgreed · · Score: 1

    Personally, in my view Obama succumb to reality in foreign affairs.

    My opinion also. Republican or Democrat, the realpolitik tends to take over. Look at Trump. Lots of things signed, no money to fund them, many dead in water. If it wasn't for the CRA and a dead Supreme Court Justice saved for him from the previous administration, pretty much nothing would have been done in his first 100 days even with both sides of Congress supposedly on his side.

  68. Re: Huh? by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

    Does this matter? Seems debatable to me.

    It does matter, but not in a nerdly way.

    The guy is on record spouting what appeared to be a statement against having too many Asian CEOs in SV/tech. From that angle, I think this shit is nerd-relevant.

  69. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

    I don't think Trump is anything. He doesn't really have any political stances beyond what he thinks the current crowd of people around him want to hear, and when it doubt he just says what is in his brain at the time. The closest label would probably be "contrarian". He's only Republican because that's the party he hung his coat on, but he doesn't subscribe to the existing party platform. He takes some very non-libertarian views, especially if those views will get him votes.

    Trump holds a lot of left-wing positions and a lot of right-wing positions. He's used eminent domain extensively, for example (left-wing) and obviously there are plenty of pictures of him palling around with the Clintons and other liberal politicians. He simply does whatever suits him and pushes him ahead. He also panders to the right incessantly with the "pro-police" garbage and all that.

  70. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

    Uh, are you calling Trump a Libertarian?

    LOL.

    He's apparently a corporatocrat, which makes him just as much of a libertarian as most of the people who call themselves libertarian. Don't like it? Separate yourself from that label to escape the association with all the crypto-corporatocrats hiding among you. Sometimes a label is too tainted and has to be discarded.

    I have no idea why you think he's a corporatocrat - that was Hillary Clinton. Libertarianism is at odds with both Clinton and Trump.

  71. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

    Hillary Clinton was barely tolerated by half of the Democrat voters. That's why Hillary lost. Trump was a barely tolerated candidate among Republicans, but not quite weak enough to be defeated by Hillary Clinton. For example, take a look at her first-amendment positions and you'll see someone who is way to the right of center. When you have a choice between a Republican running as a Democrat and a Libertarian running as a Republican, is it any surprise that the latter wins?

    As a Republican that opted to vote for Kasick in the primaries and Clinton in the prez race, I'd say that any GOP candidate (not just Trump) would have defeated Hillary. And by the same token, any Democrat candidate other than Hillary would have beat the fuck out of Trump's campaign.

    These was a fight among unlikeables (sp). With that said, the notion that Trump won because he was a Liberatian in Republican disguise is absolutely ridiculous. The motherfucker was a birther, a goddamned George Wallace who dog whistle the right tunes. Oooooh the Mexicans, oooooh the Muslims, etc, etc.

    Trump cemented his popular power way before Hillary was in the picture. The "better than Hillary" slogan came as an afterthought, a revisionist sophistry with which to hide the fact they voted for a fucking Birther bigot.

  72. Re: This is relevant, how? by Raenex · · Score: 1

    Most people who are upset by SJWs are upset because they've been called out on their bullshit.

    They're tired of the never-ending victim brigade over bullshit grievances, like Halloween costumes.

    A lot of guys are just too old fashioned to want to here criticism from a woman.

    And some guys just want to White Knight for women, regardless of merit.

  73. Re: This is relevant, how? by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

    That most SJWs are women and are mostly targeting men has a lot to do with the vitriol that is spewed about SJWs. A lot of guys are just too old fashioned to want to here criticism from a woman.

    Uhm. Are they? How do you know? Is OrangeTide a masculine or feminine name? Neither. I have no idea if the majority of SJWs who post on the Internet are women or not. Being an "old fashioned" person, I tend to think they're all men, because when I started using the Internet, everybody was male.

    According to random Internet site, 66.2% of the female gender people in the Americas use the Internet compared to 65.8% of the male gender people. So if I'm just picking odds here, most SJWs might be female. By a margin of 0.5%. I'm going to guess that there are significant factors that skew SJWs to one sex or another, but I have no idea what they might be or what the actual skew is. How do you know?

  74. Re: Huh? by bongey · · Score: 1

    Except he is still on the NSC, can see all information from the NSC, and has an open invitation to all NSC meetings. It is just not required that he be at the meetings.
    Fact he was only able to attend one NSC meeting due to scheduling conflicts,, thus this isn't really a change at all.
    But go on and believe Steve Bannon was fired from NSC, if it makes you feel any better after Hillary lost the election.

  75. Re: Huh? by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    Poor A/C why do you shout at the rain?

  76. Re: Huh? by skam240 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well when you host your own website you can decide what can and cant be posted.

    In the mean time, I'll keep reading slashdot and continue to be not surprised about news articles related to major players in major online political movements and how they are fairing in their current role in real world politics.

    --
    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  77. Re: Huh? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    There were two big political stories today:

    1. Steve Bannon's butt moved to a different chair.

    2. The Syrians launched a nerve gas attack, killing roughly 50 people, and blatantly violating a "red line" laid down by America, and violating their disarmament agreement with the UN. This will likely trigger a military response from America, complicated by the thousands of Russian soldiers and hundreds of Russian aircraft defending Syrian airspace.

    I have no problem with general news on Slashdot, but I think it is absurd that #1 was covered while #2 was not.

  78. Re: Huh? by just+another+AC · · Score: 1

    I have no problem with general news on Slashdot, but I think it is absurd that #1 was covered while #2 was not.

    Was there a submitted story for number 2? Had someone taken the time to write a summary [and really badly edit it]?

    Remember they will only show what is on the submissions

  79. Re: Huh? by Noble713 · · Score: 1

    2. The Syrians launched a nerve gas attack

    Do we actually know this with absolute certainty? Based on evidence from...the "Syrian Observatory on Human Rights" aka "One Guy Who Lives in the UK"? Based on FSA social media accounts, because those are never BS propaganda? ( http://www.independent.co.uk/n... )

    When that recent airstrike in Mosul killed 100+ civilians the US was quick to say "musta triggered a nearby ISIS carbomb factory....not really our fault"....but when the Syrians/Russians say "our airstrike must have hit a jihadi chemical warehouse...not our fault"....the ONLY conclusion made in the West is they must be lying through their teeth? What incentive would Assad have to employ a weapon that is well-known to provoke a Western response, given that he is already well on his way to winning the conventional ground conflict without it?

  80. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by danbert8 · · Score: 1

    Really? Explain to me how a successful businessman and former governor who smokes a little recreational weed and has a wacky sense of humor is worse than a corrupt politician who destroys evidence and a reality television star that spouts continual lies and attacks on anyone who questions him?

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  81. Re: Huh? by mjwx · · Score: 1

    Generally having a role removed from your list of duties is seen as a demotion, and the timing of this, after Ivanka's official installation in the White House, is highly suggestive that the rumored power struggle between Bannon and the Kushners has resolved itself in the Kushners' favor. Also note that there have been rumors that Bannon and Priebus weren't getting along all that well either. I don't expect Bannon to work for that much longer at the White House.

    I suspect Trump was forced to remove Bannon from the NSC and will likely be forced to remove him from his other positions. Bannon might retain a strictly ceremonial position, but no actual power. Even the other republicans consider Bannon to be too extreme.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  82. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by mjwx · · Score: 1

    When you have a choice between a Republican running as a Democrat and a Oligarch running as a Republican, is it any surprise that the latter wins?

    Fixed that for you. Trump is as much a libertarian as Margret Thatcher was a communist.

    And it is not just surprising that he won, it's shameful and destructive. It also says a lot about those who voted for him that they cant he was an oligarch.

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    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  83. Re: This is relevant, how? by mjwx · · Score: 1

    Democrats like Obama and both Clintons are very right leaning. They are no Howard Dean, Ralph Nader or Bernie Sanders. Not that a 1 dimensional scale for measuring political views is a good metric, it lacks nuance. For example, I'm a Republican and believe in small decentralized government and in supporting small business owners, but I'm against the death penalty. Does that make me a liberal? Probably not.

    Sounds like you've discovered what we in the ROTW call Thrid Way politics. A departure from strict left-right politics where you chose the best solution for a problem completely disregarding political philosophy, you can have a government that has both left and right policies (I.E. left on healthcare and right on trade restrictions).

    BTW, there isn't really a left in the US, even Bernie Sanders is pretty much centre right on Europes scale. Obama was definately a bit right of centre, Hillary was right of him, not as far as GWB and Trump is so far beyond GWB's position that he makes GWB look like a modarate.

    As for SJWs, treating people fairly is not really garbage, and has nothing to do with maxism. Most people who are upset by SJWs are upset because they've been called out on their bullshit. That most SJWs are women and are mostly targeting men has a lot to do with the vitriol that is spewed about SJWs. A lot of guys are just too old fashioned to want to here criticism from a woman. I don't care what gender someone is, as long as the criticism is valid and constructive. Usual response to SJWs is: I don't like what you're saying, so I'll mock you to take that power away from you. But that funny thing is you can't win that way (well at least *I* find it funny)

    This.

    A few years back, all those who complained about SJW's never used the word SJW, instead they would constantly bleat about Political Correctness. The problem is, they bleated so hard and so often that everyone started ignoring PC complains for the same reason people are starting to ignore SJW complaints... They're all bullshit.

    SJW simply means "you've said something I dont like but cant rationally argue against it" and the vast majority of people now realise that. So much like PC, SJW now has little power.

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    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  84. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by ScentCone · · Score: 1

    And it's this sort of glib avoidance of just how bad the problem really is that explains why Democrats have been on such a losing streak lately.

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    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  85. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    Calling Trump a libertarian is probably the funniest thing I've seen all week, so thanks for that.

    --
    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  86. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    Gary Johnson was a reasonably well-liked governor who got bipartisan support and could reach across the aisle. He was weak on foreign policy, and wasn't all that charismatic, but I really don't think he was worse than either Hillary or Donald.

    --
    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  87. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    No, that's just silly. He's clearly an authoritarian; he wants power to do what he wants with the government. That's decidedly not libertarianism, and the fact that you don't understand that just means that you aren't paying attention.

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    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  88. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by dgatwood · · Score: 1

    There is only one problem with your argument, and it it's this: Hillary actually DID win the election, so claiming she was too "whatever" to do so flies in the face of reality.

    No, she didn't. She won the popular vote. However, our constitutional republic is deliberately set up in a way that gives smaller states a disproportionately large vote to ensure that candidates can't just focus on the needs of the big states, and as a result, Trump won the election because of his claim—ridiculous as it might be—that he would bring back manufacturing jobs to those smaller states.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  89. Re: Huh? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    Bannon is Trump's Ernst Röhm, and Bannon should ponder Röhm's fate if he is determined to keep his foot in the White House. Sooner or later the Kushners are going to push for their own Night of the Long Knives, and Bannon's exit might be rather ugly.

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  90. Re: Clarity is the dissolution of Mud by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Look at any pictures from a leftist rally, and there are always communist groups marching with them. Most if not all receive funding from Russia. This has been happening since forever

    What part of "US Communist Party suffered a crippling blow with the collapse of the Soviet Union" do you not comprehend?

    I find it highly amusing to see leftist marching with groups that supposedly helped Trump get elected. HGHLY amusing.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  91. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Really? Explain to me how a successful businessman and former governor who smokes a little recreational weed and has a wacky sense of humor is worse than a corrupt politician who destroys evidence and a reality television star that spouts continual lies and attacks on anyone who questions him?

    Because neither of them have any clue what the President does, or had opinions that sounded thought out on any of the major issues. Any time Gary Johnson or Jill Stein were interviewed, they hung themselves and demonstrated so very clearly that they were incapable of the job. Yeah, I hated Hillary and Trump too (and didn't vote for either), and I REALLY wanted to like Johnson or Stein, either one, anything other than those other two, but they were clueless. Utterly clueless.

  92. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    he realized just how bad of a policy his campaign bashing Bush's war had been

    Eh? He was always right to bash the Iraq War and to demand that it come to an end. That's one of the few things I'll really credit him for.
    The second Iraq War was the US's greatest foreign policy blunder since the Vietnam War, if not earlier.

  93. Re: Huh? by skam240 · · Score: 1

    You nicely glossed over what I said and instead focused on what you wanted which in this case seems to be "political issue".

    To elaborate on what I actually said before and tie it in with you are getting at (and some added emphases to help you notice the key component you missed before), did Syria get its start in online news? Did its president? Are either of them major players in what is currently a very influential online political movement?

    Now dont get me wrong, a case could be made that slashdot should have an article about Syria. I might even agree with said case, I dont know. My point I've just reiterated here is that the online tie-in Bannon has makes him relevant news on slashdot. The Alt-right is big news in the context of internet culture right now. Syria, one way or another, is really irrelevant to whether Bannon should be reported on or not.

     

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    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  94. Re:This is relevant, how? by barrygrommit · · Score: 1

    Why is this on Slashdot?

    Because national security policy drives information security policy.

    ...and because rumor has it that Bannon wanted all government systems converted back to COBOL. He said he was really fond of those COBOL subroutine names...always so long and descriptive.

  95. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    The people didn't want Hillary though she won the popular vote?! Every time some idiot brings up the results of the Electoral college when discussing popularity it is a smoke screen. This is no exception.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  96. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by bobbied · · Score: 1

    I think you confuse Iraq and Syria... Iraq actually had a reasonable point and wasn't anyone's patsy, plus they were not fighting amongst themselves... North Vietnam was a China/Russian patsy fighting with South Vietnam.. Syria is a Russian Patsy in the middle of a civil war..

    Obama and Clinton got is square in the middle of Syria's civil war.... Vietnam was a Civil war too.. Both where/are proxy wars. Iraq was none of this.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  97. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by danbert8 · · Score: 1

    Trump was by far the most utterly incompetent person and somehow he is managing the job. Gary Johnson may not have been able to articulate his positions well, but that hardly makes him incapable. He WAS the governor of a state for two terms. It's not the same as being President, but it is executive decision making experience and he did quite well. How much of your view of Johnson's capabilities was formed by the way the media portrayed him vs his actual business and government experience and record?

    Stein by the way isn't even in the same category. Her experience was in being a protest organizer which is practically worthless experience, but it seemed to serve Obama well...

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    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  98. Re: Hitlery will not be running for office by j-beda · · Score: 1

    If you exclude the corrupt liberal magnet sanctuary cities, Trump is widely supported.

    That's why Hillary lost.

    If you exclude the people that did not vote for "A", then "A" is widely supported. This is not very insightful, even if you label those people as "corrupt", or insinuate that the places where people live somehow makes their opinions less valid.